One was telling me what to do and the other helped me experience the results. Clearly one method works better.

This is a great lesson for business. One of my favorite stories about selling (and a great example of showing vs. telling) is about a salesguy who went door-to-door selling hammers.

At first he brought a piece of glass and broke it infront of the customer. This guy sold a TON vs every other salesperson who just talked about the benefits of the hammer.

Then every other salesperson was doing the exact same thing

So this salesguy started giving the hammer to the customer and asked them to smash the glass. Instant-gratification. This is for another email but you get the jist of it.

The next time you really want someone to understand, buy what you are selling or be convinced of your opinion figure out how you can show them vs tell them. That is how you can easily sell anything to anyone.

The real story is not about hammers. Rather it was about tempered glass that does not shatter. The sales person was wildly successful showing how the glass was unbreakable. Then, after a slump, he gave the hammer to the prospects and let them try and break the glass.

Good point, I hate shopping for clothes as well. It just feels like a waste of time. Whenever I HAVE to get something other than sportswear, I usually take a girl with me to help me choose what looks good.

I think the sales approach you mention, ends up letting people convince themselves about how good a product or service is. I think free trials are a good way to accomplish it, but you gotta stay creative with the giveaways, not just give away another useless ebook, find a way to actually create value “Napoleon Hill Style”. Provide a lot of valur and/or fun, and then let people decide how bad they want your stuff.

Incase you are a service provider, rather than a glass salesman, I will share what works for me.
I’m an executive coach who specializes in working with co-founders who are pissed off at each other. I get their relationship back to the inspiration that lead them to partner in the first place.

What works is exactly what Noah shared.

The first time I speak with a prospective client, rather than a sales conversation, I treat it like a coaching session. In 15 – 25 minutes give them the experience the benefits of what I can do for them, and working together, at that point, is either a no-brainer, or not.

So regardless of your service, figure out how to give them the experience of working with you in 15-20 min, and provide that before you talk about any professional commitments.

This is something we’ve begun to realize internally. There are a hundred ideas a week that come up about one thing or another. Could be product, user acquisition, whatever. But it’s become painfully clear that until you show the value of an idea, it’s bound to be a pinata for all practical purposes. Everybody has a counter opinion and wants to take a swing about how it won’t work, etc. So we’ve gotten into the practice of keeping our ideas quiet until we’ve collected enough data to present something more tangible. You have to be able to demonstrate value in an idea rather than tout it.

I personally like the first girl’s “suggestion” too, if not even more. I will probably need a long speech to explain it, but trying to keep it brief, I’d say that the first girl is not directly telling to put on this or that, but states it indirectly – as a compliment. e.g. “I like it when you do this and that”, or “this would make you look even so much hotter”…. In fact, this is the best way to communicate with men (I’ve learned from experts and experience). The second girl’s “offer” has a premise – she’s already bought those clothes for him. Some men (maybe more insecure) may even find it little rubbing-in-the-wrong-way to their ego: she is trying to make me look and be someone else I’m not. Just my insight.